LET’S HELP CREATE MORE FARMERS . . . FORMER GM OF CORNER BROOK MILL JOINS BOARD OF SOUNDVIEW PAPER . . . PRIVATE RESEARCH IN N.L. LEADS TO POTENTIAL HERBICIDE ALTERNATIVE . . . ISLAND HOLSTEIN INDUSTRY PLANNING TO DOCUMENT HISTORY . . . THERMALWOOD CANADA BRINGS “BAKED WOOD” TO BATHURST . . . OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST...

LET’S HELP CREATE MORE FARMERS
Source: New York Times
Just about everyone agrees that we need more farmers. Currently, nearly 30 percent are 65 or older, and fewer than 10 percent are under 35. The number of farmers is likely to fall further with continuing consolidation and technological innovation. We need to put more young people on smaller farms, the kinds that will grow nourishing food for people instead of food that sickens us or yields products intended for animals or cars. The problem is land, which is often prohibitively expensive. Many farmers have no choice but to rent land for a year or two before being asked to move and start all over, because the purchase of even the smallest plot is out of their reach. (read more)

FORMER GM OF CORNER BROOK MILL JOINS BOARD OF SOUNDVIEW PAPER
Source: Pulp & Paper Canada
Soundview Paper Company has announced senior management changes, including the addition of longtime tissue and paper industry executives Steve Ziessler and Bob Snyder to the Board of Managers. Snyder served as CEO and president of Orchids Paper Products from 2007 to 2014. From 2002 to 2005, he worked for Kruger, Inc., where he served as vice-president and general manager of Corner Brook Pulp and Paper Limited in Newfoundland, an operation that was comprised of a newsprint mill, timberlands, and power generation facility. (read more)

PRIVATE RESEARCH IN N.L. LEADS TO POTENTIAL HERBICIDE ALTERNATIVE
Source: The Telegram
A small patch of grass along Old Pennywell Road in St. John’s, edged by sidewalk and parking lot pavement, looks much like any other streetside patch at a distance. As you get closer, you can notice color differences, one marked area to the next. Variances in green are set with dark spots of blackened dandelions. The patch is in front of the home base of Green Lawn, a local lawn care company. Owner Don Barry has used it to create a reference to his larger-scale research plots, looking at the use of iron for weed suppression. (read more)

ISLAND HOLSTEIN INDUSTRY PLANNING TO DOCUMENT HISTORY
Source: Island Farmer
Holstein cattle have been a fixture on Island dairy farms for over a century and the organization that represents the breed is now in the process of documenting that legacy. While a great deal of information has been gathered for other books and publications on the success the breed has enjoyed in Canada’s smallest province, the three member history committee of P.E.I. Holsteins is now in the process of compiling the first book dedicated to the breed. “The idea was first discussed after the national Holstein Canada convention was held in the province in 2007,” said Fred VanderKloet, who serves on the committee along with Cynthia Frizzel and Mary Ellen Godfrey. (read more)

THERMALWOOD CANADA BRINGS “BAKED WOOD” TO BATHURST
Source: CBC.ca
A Bathurst wood supplier is smoking the competition by baking its building products. Thermalwood Canada takes planks from across the province – and some from Ontario – and cooks them in a giant kiln at high temperatures to darken the color. Aesthetics are the biggest selling point, but Pierre Friolet, Thermalwood’s general manager, said the benefits to putting the wood through this process go far deeper. (read more)